Vehicle-body.



N0 MODEL.

R. L. NOTMAN. VEHIGLE BODY.

PATENTED MAY 31, 1904.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 6, 1902. v

WI NESSES &\\\\\\\\\\\\\\m 1N VEN Attorneys.

Patented May 31, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L. -NOTMAN, OF FLIT, MICHIGAN.

vEHlonE-Bo'DY.

` SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. '7 61,17 7 dated May31, 1904.

I y Application icd June 6, 1902.I Serial No. 110,417. (No model.)

T0 'all whom, 4it 11m/,7j concern.:

Be it known that I, RoBERTL. NoTMAN, a

I citizen of the United States, residing at Flint,

in the county of Genesee, State of Michigan, have linvented certain newand useful Improvements in Vehicle-Bodies; and I do declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

This invention relates to vehicle-bodies; and it consists in theconstruction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth, andpointed out particularly in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide a vehicle-body with adetachable bottom so constructed as to be removably secured in place,enabling the bottom to be readily removed when desired and enabling allparts'of the sills to be coated with paint as a protection against theelements.

The above object is attained by the structure illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is an isometrical view of avehif cle-body involving my invention, one side and the rear panel,together with one of the rear posts, being removed. Fig. 2 is asectional view, as on lline 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a similar sectionthrough the rear panel and a portion of the bottom. Fig. 4 is anelevation of a spring turn-buttonremployed to retain.

the bottom in place.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1 designates the side panel,and 2 and 3 the front and rear panels, respectively, which may be of anydesired construction. The side sills are indicated at 4, and the frontand rear sills at 5 and 6, respectively. The bottom 7 may be formed oftransverse strips united bythe cleats 8, extending longitudinally of thebody. In the inner edge of all of the sills is formed a rabbet 9,adapted to receive and support the marginal edges of the bottom of thevehiclebody, the depth of said rabbet being sufficient to cause theupper face of the bottom to lie about flush with the surface of thesills, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In the inner edge of the front sill 5 are formed mortises 10 in linewith and adapted to receive the forward ends ll'of the cleats 8, asclearly shown in Fig. 2 and by dotted lines in Fig. I.l In placing thebottom in position the projecting ends 11 of said cleats are entered insaid mortises and the bottom shoved forward to enable the rear endthereof to drop into the rabbet in the rear sill, causing said cleats toengage in the mortises at the forward end of the bottom to retain saidforward end securely in place and prevent the removal of the bottomexcept by lifting the rearend thereof out of the rabbet in the sill. Tohold the rear end of the bottom in position, spring turn -buttons 12 areemployed, which vare mounted upon a bolt 13, that passes through thesills. The body of the turn-bu tton through which the bolt passes isdivided on an incline, as at 14, the purpose of which construction is tocause the free end of the turn-button to rise as it is swung inward andcarry free from the bottom, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4. Thisstructure also causes the button to bear forcibly upon the bottom whenturned to the position shown in Fig. l, thereby preventing the bottomfrom rattling.

By making the` bottom of the vehicle-body removable in the mannerdescribed the bottom may be readily removed when the vehicle-body iswashed, thereby preventing the Water from soaking into the bottom andcaus ing the frame to swell, so as to open the joints of the sills, andalso preventing the carpet or any other covering which may be employedupon the ybottom from becoming Wet. The removable feature of the bottomalso enables all parts of the sills to be painted, as said sills may bepainted while the bottom is removed, and the bottom may be replacedafter the paint has become thoroughly dry.

In removing the bottom the turn-buttons are turned so as to disengagethe bottom, when said bottom is raised at the rear end sufficiently tocarry it out of the rabbet of the sill, when by drawing the bottomslightly rearwardly the forward ends of the cleats 11 may vwhat I claimas new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a vehicle-body, the combination of the sills, lateral projectionson the sills, a bottomA removably supported upon said projections withinthe sills on a plane with their upper face,

a mortise in the inner edge of one ofthe sil'ls,'

and a horizontal cleat crossing the bottom and extending into saidmortise.

2; In avehiclesbody, the combination ofthe iiXed sills permanentlyvjoined and having a rabbet in the inner edge thereof, a rigid bottom.supported on said sills, the margins of the bottom lying in said rabbetso as to bring the surface of the bottom and sills in the same plane,vand means as a turn-button mounted upon the sills and adapted to swingonto the upper face of the bottom and hold the bottom within the rabbetof the sills at one end so as to enable it to be detached therefrom, thesill at the other end having a mortise in the edge thereof and a cleatlext'en'dng along the bottoni and into said mortise substantially as setforth,

3. In a vehicle-body, the combination of the sills permanently united attheir ends to form a rigid rectangular frame, a box formed of side andend panels rigidly united at their corners mounted upon and permanentlysecured to the frame of the sills, said frame having a rabbet formed inthe inner upper edge thereof, a rigid bottom adapted to lie in saidrabbet within the frame of the sills lushvwith their upper face and amovable device for detachably securing the bottom in place to allow ofits complete removal.

In testimony whereof I signv this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

ROBERT L, NoTMAN,

Witnesses:

MATTHEW DAvIsoN, J r., J.,D. HoTcHKIss.

